


Unexpected

by moonlights_glow



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Big Brother Derek Morgan, Drunk Spencer Reid, F/M, Fake Dating, Mutual Pining, substance abuse mention if you SQUINT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:22:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlights_glow/pseuds/moonlights_glow
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid/Reader, The BAU Team & Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 67





	Unexpected

“When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”

\- Alice Hoffman

  
  


You were obsessively cleaning your desk, organizing and reorganizing everything. You straightened the files you were working on and you were making sure all your pens were organized and your pictures were straightened. 

“Wow, I have  _ never  _ seen you this obsessive about your desk,” Derek Morgan said, walking over to your desk with a mug of coffee. 

“Shut up, Morgan,” you snapped, ruffling through your drawers. 

“Okay, wow. In that case, I’m taking the coffee back.”

You sighed and closed the drawer. “I’m sorry. My, uh, my mother is visiting, and I don’t want to give her more ammunition against me.”

“Ah, yes, we all know how crucial parents are about the neatness of a child’s desk,” Reid said, rolling over in his chair.

“You don’t know, man!” You took the coffee from Derek. “She’s brutal. And she doesn’t seem to grasp the idea that I don’t have a boyfriend because I don’t want one. She seems to think it’s because I can’t get one. And I know she’s going to rag on me being single when she gets here.”

“Well, why don’t I pretend to be your boyfriend?” Spencer offered. Derek looked over at him. 

“Oh, that’s so sweet, Spencer. But I can’t ask you to do that, my mother isn’t an easy person to deal with.”

“No, no, I want to,” he insisted. “I want to help.”

“Oh, you’re the best, Spence.” You got up from your desk with some files and pecked his cheek. You didn’t see the way his face turned pink from the tips of his ears all the way down his neck. “I gotta go give these to Garcia, I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

After you were out of earshot, Derek turned to Spencer. “What the hell are you doing, kid?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Reid, I know how you feel about her. Is pretending to be her boyfriend really a good idea?”

“I’m just helping a friend, Morgan. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Reid walked away, sipping his sugar with a splash of coffee. 

~ 

When the elevator doors pinged open, you knew what was in store. You took a deep breath and pushed up from your desk. 

“Mom!” Your mother had entered through the BAU’s glass doors. “You’re early!”

“This is where you work? It smells like old Chinese food.”

_ And so it begins _ , you thought. “Well, we work a lot of late nights, we order takeout a lot.”

“That’s not good for you, (Y/N). You need to eat healthy, homemade food.”

“Yeah, thanks, Mom.”

“How are you going to get a boyfriend if you’re constantly eating fast food? You need to cook well if you want to snag a man.”

“Actually, Mom-”

“Oh, look at your desk, it’s a mess.” She started rearranging things on your desktop. “There’s so many files, what do you do all day?”

You looked to your coworkers, your eyes screaming for help. Morgan shook his head as Spencer walked over to you. 

He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kissed your cheek. “Hey, is this your mom?” 

“Oh, uh, yes. Mom, this is my boyfriend, Spencer.”

She looked over Spencer. “He’s so skinny, he looks like his bones would snap with a stiff wind. Your sister’s husband is big and buff.”

“Mom!” You groaned. “Can you please not criticize Spencer?”

“No, no, it’s alright, sweetheart.” He squeezed your side. “Mrs. (L/N), I assure you I’m stronger than I look.”

“(L/N)!” Rossi said, coming out of his office. “Do you have the Burns case file?”

“Yeah, it’s in my stack somewhere,” you said, ruffling through the papers on your desk. 

“(Y/N), aren’t you going to introduce me?” your mom asked. 

“Mom, SSA David Rossi, Rossi, this is my mother, Mary (L/N).”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mrs. (L/N).” 

“Oh, please, just call me Mary.”

“Uh, here you go, Rossi,” you said, handing him the file. “Um, Mom, I just need to finish up real quick and I’ll meet you in the lobby, okay?”

“Oh, alright. Bring Spencer to dinner, I want to get to know him better.” Your mom walked out the glass doors, leaving you standing in the bullpen with Spencer.

“Did- did my mother just flirt with Rossi?”

“I think she did,” Spencer said. You could tell he was trying not to laugh. 

“Oh, god, I’m gonna be sick.”

Spencer shook his head. “So, dinner with your mom?”

“Oh, you don’t have to come, Spence,” you said. “I can just tell her you had other plans tonight. She’s only staying in D.C. until her connecting flight in the morning.”

“Oh, no, I can go,” Spencer assured you. “I know your mom makes you tense.”

You smiled. “You’d suffer through a dinner with my mother?”

“Hey, I’m your Fake Boyfriend until she leaves. And part of that responsibility is going to dinner with you.” He grabbed his jacket and scarf off his chair and held his arm out to you. “Shall we?”

~

Spencer made the evening with your mother so much better than it would have been. Every time she started in on you, Spencer would squeeze your hand, letting you know he was on your side. Her snide remarks and jabs hurt less with him next to you. 

“Hey, thanks for coming with me tonight,” you said, driving Spencer home. “It made things less… horrible.” You pulled into the parking lot of Spencer’s apartment complex. “Thanks for being my boyfriend for the night. I’ll see you Monday?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ll see you Monday,” Spencer said before slipping out of your car. You made sure he was safe in his building before heading back to your own apartment.

~

You were using your rare free Saturday night to catch up on the recordings on your tv when someone knocked on your door. You pushed up from your couch, wrapping your blanket around your body. 

You opened the door to see a disheveled Spencer swaying in the doorway. His already messy hair was more tousled, and his purple scarf was uneven around his shoulders. “Hey, it’s my girlfriend!” he yelled, his words slurring together. 

“Wha- Spence, are you drunk?” You guided him into your house. “What happened?”

You knew Spencer. You’d known him since you joined the team in place of Agent Greenaway. He didn’t drink. He barely accepted painkillers when he had a headache. For him to be this drunk, you knew something was seriously wrong.

Spencer flopped face-first onto your couch, his long legs hanging over the side. “Morgan was right,” he mumbled into the couch. “God, I hate when he’s right.”

You knelt down next to him. “Right about what, Spence?”

He turned his head to look at you. “You know, JJ used to be the only person to call me Spence. But I like it better when you call me Spence.”

The genius was babbling, you knew, but you still felt your cheeks heat up. To cover the blush, you rolled your eyes. “How much did you drink, Spencer?” He mumbled something that sort of sounded like  _ I don’t know _ in response. You sighed, leaning back on your heels. “Oh, you’re gonna hate everything in the morning, you beautiful genius.” You brushed a piece of his curly hair out of his face. “Get some sleep, Spencer.”

~

Spencer woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. He groaned and sat up, burying his face in his hands. 

“Feel like you were hit by a bus yet?” he heard your voice say. It was then that he realized he wasn’t in his own apartment. “Here. This’ll help.” You set a glass of water and a bottle of Advil on the table.

“Please tell me I didn’t do anything to embarrass myself last night,” he groaned as you sat next to him. 

“Well, depends on what you’d consider embarrassing,” you said. “I mean, you did show up at my house drunk off your ass at 10 o’clock last night. But you didn’t, like, dance on my coffee table or anything.” You pushed the water closer to him. “You were babbling a lot though. You kept saying Morgan was right about something?”

He looked up at you, peeking through his fingers. “Did I say what it was?”

“No, you just kept saying he was right and how you were mad he was right until you passed out.”

He sighed with relief. “Okay. Okay.”

“But, see,” you sat next to him, leaning closer, “now I want to know what he was right about.”

Spencer ran his fingers through his messy hair. “It’s nothing.”

“Spencer, you don’t drink. And whatever he was right about made you get wasted.” You looked at Spencer. “Come on, let’s get you a good breakfast.”

~

You pushed open the door to a small diner, Spencer following behind you. 

“Hey, (Y/N)!” the cook, a large man riddled with smile lines, calls out from behind the counter. “Maria, (Y/N)’s back!”

You chuckled. “Hi, Sam. It’s been a while.”

“Do you want your usual?” he asked as you walked to a table in the back corner. 

“Uh, yes. But not for me. My friend here partied a little too hard last night.”

He laughed, a big, full sound that reverberated through the mostly empty diner. “Ah, I understand. It’s good to see you again, kid.”

“How often do you come here?” Spencer asked you, squinting in the light.

“Eh, not so much anymore. I came in all the time in college, though. Sam and Maria make the best hangover food, and the best coffee.”

“You came here all the time in college?”

“Hey, I wasn’t like you, Mr. Eidetic Memory, I was a young adult in college. I went to parties and I drank.”

“Here’s your coffee,” Sam said, setting a rather large mug on the table with a small pitcher of cream and canister of sugar. “Do you want anything, (Y/N)? On the house.”

“Oh, no thank you, Sam. Uh, how’s Felix?”

“He’s good, he actually got married and moved to Belgium.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, he and his wife are expecting.”

“Oh, well, tell him I say congratulations.”

The bell above the door jingled. “I will,” Sam said before going to greet the young family that just walked in. “Maria should be out with your food soon.”

“Thanks, Sam.” You looked at Spencer who was adding about half a pound of sugar to his coffee. “So, I’m buying your breakfast. How about to pay me back, you tell me what Morgan was right about?”

Spencer twisted the mug in his hands. “Um-”

“Here is (Y/N)’s Hangover Special. A ham and spinach omelette with a yogurt parfait, topped with house-made granola,” an older woman said, setting the plates down. 

“Thanks, Maria, you’re a doll.”

She pointed to Spencer. “She’s a good one, don’t you let her go.” She walked back to the kitchen, leaving both of you blushing. 

You cleared your throat. “You were saying?” 

“Oh, um, well, Morgan and I were talking about, uh, about women. He gave me some advice, and I didn’t listen.”

You reached out and grabbed his hand. “Hey. You can talk to me, Spence. You know that. What’s going on?”

He cleared his throat. “I used to be in love with JJ. Well, maybe love is too strong a word.”

“What happened? What changed?”

He looked up from his mug for the first time since the conversation began. “You.” His dark eyes held yours. 

“Me?”

“Morgan told me not to pretend to be your boyfriend. He said I would be miserable after the charade was up.” He looked back down. “He was right.”

You felt your heart skip. “Spencer. Hey.” You reached out and tipped his face up to look at you. “Those feelings, they weren’t fake, were they?”

Spencer shook his head. “I-I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere over the years, I… I fell in love with you.”

You squeezed the hand you were still holding. “You know, I kind of lied to my mom. You know how I told her that I was single because I wanted to be?” You laughed to yourself, averting your eyes from Spencer for a moment. “That’s not entirely true. I stayed single because I didn’t want just anyone.”

“Am I still drunk?” Spencer said, a smile spreading across his face. “Am I imagining this?”

You laced your fingers with Spencer’s. “No, you’re not imagining it. I fell in love with you, too, Spence. I didn’t expect it, but I did.”

Spencer was smiling now, and it lit up the whole diner. He kissed your knuckles before letting your hands rest on the table together. 

You should have gone on a fake-date with Spencer ages ago. 


End file.
